Matt Hass is a computer genius. He started programming at thirteen years old, got his first programming job at 18, and was courted by Google by the time he was in college. He was accepted into MIT based on a revolutionary algorithm that made it possible to use non-wifi signals to send information. But, at 24, he gave it all up and now works out of a $300/month apartment in a third world country. Why?

“I’ve done my time working just to make money,” says Hass. “I want to use my life to help kids like me, like through media and games.” Hass is a former Russian orphan who was adopted and brought over to the USA, but didn’t bond with his new family. At ten, he was sent to a Christian children’s home. A staff member there noticed his intelligence and helped him get resources to learn computers. “It just takes one person to show God’s love and change a child’s life,” he says with conviction.

He and his wife have been working with various charities, children’s homes, and ministries for two years now. They’re currently raising money to finish a revolutionary new game called Genesis!, a first-person, open-world mobile RPG set in early Bible times. Players will be able to plan and build their own homes and cities any way they want, similar to Minecraft, but in a more realistic environment, something that’s never been done before on a mobile device. “I had the idea for the algorithm a couple of years ago, and started jotting down random ideas as they came to me. Then I tested it and was really excited when I saw how well it worked.”

Because they’ve been working on it for awhile now for free, they just need $8,500 to finish up the project. “Of course, if we had more, we could do a lot more with the world, as far as development goes, but that’s the minimum we need to get the project done.” To support their efforts, head over to Kickstarter and donate or share!